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Tag Archives: Kate Miller-Heidke

Every September the JD Set brings together some of Australia’s best musicians to cover a classic album or band. This year we got the see Art Vs Science cover the music of seminal Aussie rockers Icehouse, with some help from their friends.

It always feels a little unatural when brands jump on the live music bandwagon, even for Jack Daniels who have been at it for a long time. The staff encouraging you to have your photo taken with a drumkit, over the top advertising and the decsion to hold the gig in an Eastern suburbs nightclub were almost enough to have me jumping on the next tram to the Northcote Social Club.

Purple Sneakers DJs opened the night and with most of the signs around the place advertising Jack Daniels’ relationship with live music, it was dissapointing to see no smaller local bands sharing the stage with Art Vs Science. I can’t really comment on their DJ set. They played a mix of indie and top 40 tunes which seemed to go down well, but it just felt like background music to the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol.

Thankfully, all was forgiven once we actually got to see some live music.

Art Vs Science opened with Great Southern Land, a song most people would associate with Icehouse. They did the song justice with the beats and synths working suprisingly well. Tim Derricourt of Dappeled Cities fame was the first guest vocalist and the least known to the punters. His cover of I Can’t Help Myself went down well and there is no doubt he won himself some new fans.

Patience Hodgson was always going to be a highlight, and she didn’t dissapoint. Bouncing around on stage like a toddler who’s had too many energy drinks, she breathed a sense of fun into the night. Her cover of Crazy got some of the crowd moving along which was nice.

Kate Miller-Heidke has a gorgeous voice, but her slower numbers seemed lost on many memembers of the crowd who insisted on talking. Man of Colours sounded fantastic but it was Hey Little Girl that stole the first part of the set. The lack of percussion and atmospheric synths lent themselves to relealing the more sinister aspects of the song, all with Miller-Heidke’s angelic voice floating over the top. Brilliant.

Everyone got back onstage for a reindition of one of Icehouse’ s biggest hits Electric Blue. While Art Vs Science were flawless, especially thanks to a killer guitar solo, it felt a little bit like watching awkward karaoke.

Just when things started to go downhill, Iva Davis unexpectedly came onstage to perform Great Southern Land for the second time in the evening. While he may be looking a lot greyer than at the time of the song’s release, he’s still got it and put a few of tonight’s performances to shame.

We we then treated to an encore of Icehouse’s (or Flowers as they were then called) first hit, We Can Get Together with everyone up on stage. It was a wise decision to keep Iva Davis on lead vocal duties and the result was electrifying.

Overall, the night showed how many great songs Icehouse have released over years, with many of them still getting a flogging on certain radio stations. While the covers were a bit hit and miss, Kate Miller-Heidke and the last two songs made the trek to Toorak worth it.

What would happen if Art vs Science, Kate Miller-Heidke, Patience Hodgson, Tim Derricourt and Icehouse walked into a bar?

Well chances are, the folks at the JD Set were thinking exactly the same thing, as this year’s event sees Art Vs Science cover the music of iconic Australian band Icehouse.

Kate Miller-Heidke, Patience Hodgson (The Grates) and Tim Derricourt (Dappled Cities) will also be along for the ride.

2011 will be a very big year for Icehouse, with inclusions on both the Meredith and Hombake line-ups. While placing such focus on a band from the 1980s may seem odd, tracks such as We Can Get Together, I Can’t Help Myself, Great Southern Land and Hey Little Girl sound just as fresh as they did thirty years ago.

The JD set will take place in both Melbourne and Sydney. Click on the links to buy tickets and more information,

Because free music is the best kind of music, we have one double pass to give away to the JD Set. To be in the running simply leave a comment telling us “Which Icehouse song are you most excited to see Art Vs Science and Kate Miller-Heidke collaborating on, and why?”

Make sure you leave your email address and location in the comment so we don’t send you to the wrong gig.

I can never quite decide how I feel about Kate Miller-Heidke. At first I found her music kind of annoying to be honest, however I saw her live earlier this year at an all ages festival and it was one of the most entertaining sets I’ve ever seen. She has a great voice and some increbily clever and catchy songs, but all that quirkiness can be a bit grating when you’re not in the mood. So at the moment, I’m sitting on the fence.

Anyway, her song The Last Day On Earth was all over the Neighbours promos when Bridget died (it’s amazing how much I know about this show from only seeing the promos) and is now being released as a single. This is the offical video:

It took quite a while for the offical video to come out which promted some clever people to make their own. This is a cool animated one which I prefer to the official one simply because it doesn’t look like a typical film clip.

You know how some people say there’s a song for every situation? Well, I don’t think it’s true, but now there’s a song about having an ex add you as a friend on facebook. If they added an ” Are you fucking kidding me?” button I’m sure the internet would be a much better place.